November Is the Best Month to Plant Tulips, as Cold Soil Keeps Tulip Fire Away

Daffodils, crocuses and hyacinths do best when planted in September or October, but tulips are different. November is often the best month to put them in the ground. Tulip fire is a fungal disease that thrives in mild, damp conditions, and colder soil slows it down. It twists the leaves and marks them with brown spots, and in bad cases the whole plant looks scorched. A tulip planted in cold November soil still has time to grow a strong root system before its shoots break through in late winter.

Gardeners at the large public gardens plant tulips by the tens of thousands at this time of year, and many specialist growers carry on planting until the end of December or even into January.

How to plant tulips this month